A Jewish wedding took place in Ukraine on Monday night, the 40th day of the war, in the first such simcha since the war began.

The wedding of Alexander Tolkach and Tatiana Gvinyashvili’s was held in the city of Dnipro and was attended by only about 25 guests instead of the hundreds they invited four months previously.

Almost all the couple’s friends and family members already fled the city or are at the battlefront but the couple was nevertheless determined to hold their wedding on the scheduled date.

Chief Rabbi of Dnipro HaRav Shmuel Kaminetzky served as the mesader kiddushin at the wedding, which was held at the Menorah Center, which some say is the largest multifunctional Jewish community in Europe, and even the world.

Prior to the war, several weddings were held at the Center every week, attended by hundreds of guests. The Center itself has a caterer on the premises, as well as a fancy hotel for guests that come from outside the city.

“It was a little painful at first to think about how so many people we’re close to couldn’t rejoice with us but we’re happy to establish a home of our own amid the destruction around us,” Alexander and Tatiana said. “The main thing is that we have each other.”

“We both were determined to marry only a Jewish partner despite the fact that that’s not always easy outside Israel so of course, our home will be fully Jewish. Our dream is to have a home full of small children we can raise in peace and security.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)